Planning for 'The New Normal': Foresight and Management of the Possibilities of Socio-economic Spillovers due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The next normal will not look like any in the years preceding the COVID-19, a pandemic that changed many socio-economic situations around the world. In this paper, we shall explore the possibilities of the socio-economic spillovers that are expected in an unprecedented pandemic, studying their importance, how to deal with them to eliminate their "opportunity cost" on the next normal.A synthesis for the type of spillovers in the ‘new normal’, its future socio-economic challenges are presented to enhance the readiness to the coming era. In order to visualise the amount of the possibilities and opportunities of the socio-economic spillover, a framework is proposed, and then all the 480 possibilities are list. Tools are developed further to optimize the best socio-economic possibilities, which would different per the community condition and the stage of the new normal. The main implication of this work is that it would change the way any future pandemic or global emergency spillovers are evaluated or dealt with. This would establish a new path for future research in the ‘new normal guidance’ which are recommended as part of the conclusion. The framework and tools need to be further tested in more different conditions so that they can be globally generalised.